


All Day and Nighttime Yours, Leave Me Never

by immahill



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, One Shot Collection, i am simply trying, last 3 chapters are better than the first 3 in my opinion, we still learnin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25297105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immahill/pseuds/immahill
Summary: One shots for each main time of the day (and night).
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 6
Kudos: 123





	1. Dawn;Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this work is from "All Day and All of the Night" by The Kinks.

Tori was in a good mood when she awoke. This was not normal. There were many ways Tori could, and usually would, be woken up. A few of the most common were: 

  1. Her incessant, blaring alarm. 
  2. Her incessant, blaring _sister_.
  3. The smell of her mom making food, most likely only for herself, leaving none for Trina or Tori.
  4. Her father, with his large frame and heavy footfalls, ambling rather loudly through the house and out the door, on the way to the precinct without leaving a kiss goodbye on her forehead like he used to.



None of those resulted in Tori waking up in a good mood. So, why she ended up waking up on the right side of the bed, for once, was beyond her. Of course, if she’d woken up in one of the usual ways listed above, she would’ve been able to shake the bad mood by the time she got to school. Recently, shaking the bad mood was getting easier and easier, simply because of a certain strong willed scriptwriter.

The singer listened to the relative silence of the house, snuggling more into her blankets as the only slightly chilly – because, c’mon, it was Los Angeles – winter morning air seeped into the Vega household. Glancing out her window, she found the source of her calm awakening: the ever so natural Sun. Ah, so  _ that’s _ what she had forgotten to do last night. She’d forgotten to close her blinds. She didn’t mind, though, grateful for a moment of peace in her chaotic life. 

She frowned as she pulled her gaze away from the beautifully rising sun, turning to her buzzing phone. Hopefully the awaiting notification wouldn’t ruin her content frame of mind. Her frown instantly turned into a soft smile upon seeing the aforementioned scriptwriter’s name across her phone. The girl, still disheveled from sleep, opened her phone to check the message. Her smile grew into a full grin as she read the teasing, but fond, message accompanied by a picture of them from the reality TV show they’d been on in sophomore year. Now she was  _ definitely _ in a good mood.


	2. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori morning doesn't go great, but Jade's there to cheer her up.

Tori was decidedly _not_ in a good mood. Unlike the tranquil awakening that had befallen Tori a week earlier, today’s morning call was not one of quiet peace. Instead, she’d slept through her alarm, an incident caused by staying up late to finish a stupid history assignment, and was rudely arised by Trina screeching at her to “get your skinny ass down stairs!”. That alone would’ve been relatively fine, but coupled with having little time to get ready and even less time to shovel down about 3 mouthfuls of cereal before her mother was shooing her and Trina out the door, the probability of Tori shaking her bad mood was shrinking with every passing second. And, to add on, her older sister, who had still hogged the bathroom even though she’d been given extra time because of Tori’s late awakening, had the gall to comment on her not so put together appearance.

God, it wasn’t even 8:00am and Tori was already done with today. 

It wasn’t like her outfit was that bad, either. A random t-shirt paired with dark jeans and her Hollywood Arts jacket was definitely not the worst outfit she’d seen at school. Perhaps her hair, only quickly brushed through and not styled in the least, was not up to her usual standard. And, shit, she was wearing her glasses. That was not a usual Tori Vega move. How’d she even forget to put her contacts in? While her family and friends had all seen the youngest Vega in her glasses at one point or another, wearing them to school was not exactly something she wanted to experience. But it was either wear them and look nerdy, but be able to see, or not wear them and look fine, but not be able to see a damn thing, so Tori was just going to have to deal today. She was _not_ about to go around and give herself a headache by squinting and straining to see.

She huffed as she walked through the double doors, making a beeline to her locker. She prayed to whatever deity was up in the clouds that no one would try to make conversation, hit on her, or plain run into her on her way there. She was almost there, already thanking whichever god had taken mercy on her, when her wrist was grabbed and she was being pulled away from her intended destination. She whipped around, reprimands on the tip of her tongue, before realizing that it was her girlfriend who was currently dragging her to the janitor’s closet. 

“What’s up with you?” the girl dressed in black questioned the moment the closet door had swung closed behind them.

“I’ve been at school for literally two seconds,” Tori groaned, her muddled mind not caring that this wasn’t the girl she was annoyed with.

“Yeah, and in that two seconds I noticed you and your weird mood. So spill it,” Jade demanded.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine. Now can I get my stuff?” the singer tried putting faux peppiness into her voice, knowing it had fallen flat and that her irritation had crept back in. 

Jade’s eyes studied the half latina in front of her, before apparently coming to a conclusion. She let Tori’s wrist fall to her side, but walked herself around to the back of Tori. “Tor, c’mon,” she slipped her hands around her girlfriend’s waist as her chin found said girlfriend’s shoulder. 

“I told you, it’s nothing. I’ll be fine,” Tori protested again, but she was already leaning slightly back against Jade.

“I just want you to be happy.” Jade pressed a kiss to the side of Tori’s neck, leaving her lips to brush against the tan skin. “Plus, you and I both know that if you don’t tell me, you’ll probably be snippy all day.”

“I...it’s stupid. I shouldn’t even be all wazzed off about it,” Tori mumbled, shaking her head and putting a hand over Jade’s.

“Doesn’t matter.” Jade shifted to place another kiss, this time on Tori’s jaw. “Tell me.”

“I’m just tired, I guess.” Tori had attempted to leave it at that, but Jade tightened her arms around her, the warm embrace coercing Tori into relaying to her everything that had gone wrong that morning. “I went to bed late last night, and then slept through my alarm, so of course Trina screams at me to wake me up.”  
  
Jade groaned softly, imagining how much worse the piercing voice must be when it’s the first thing you hear when you wake up.

“Right? Then, even though she already got extra time in the bathroom, she hogs it, so I have, like, 10 minutes to get ready and then I didn’t really get to have breakfast.”

Jade nodded sympathetically and pulled Tori more into the hug. She knew Tori not having breakfast was akin to herself not getting enough coffee.

“And then Mom basically forces us out the door, and Trina had the fucking _audacity_ to make some shady comment about how I looked ‘comfortable’. It’s just, ugh.” Tori dropped her hands, which had previously been gesturing around wildly to get her point across, to her sides. “Sorry,” she said, more subdued as she turned her head to the side so she could look at Jade.

Jade just shook her head. “No, no, I asked. And, god, that one hundred percent sounds like a hellish morning.”

Tori turned in Jade’s arms, her own coming up to cross behind Jade’s neck. Taking the opportunity, Jade tilted her head and captured her girlfriend in a kiss, the pace slow and steady. Tori groaned as Jade backed her into the wall next to the door, ensuring no one would see them through the window. They broke away for some much needed air. 

“Well, I’d say my morning got a little better,” Tori grinned, locking eyes with Jade.

“Only a little?” Jade raised her pierced eyebrow, smiling.

Tori hummed in thought. “Maybe it’d be more than ‘a little’ if you keep kissing me.”

“Gladly.”


	3. Afternoon;Midday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade's been uncharacteristically quiet all day. Luckily, Tori knows how to get Jade back on track.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh just the same storyline as the last chapter but with the roles switched.

“Really?!?!” Robbie cringes as Cat yells, his free hand flying up to his ear.

Tori tries to stifle a laugh at Cat’s antics along with the rest of the group, feeling slightly sympathetic for the boy. While the synthetic redhead’s immediate reaction to practically scream in response to Robbie’s long winded rant on his “sensitive left ear drum” had been funny, she finds that she can’t focus on it for very long. Soon, her laughter dies down and her eyes are once again scanning the Asphalt Café for a particular scary goth. 

Tori was able to tell that Jade had been in a worse mood than normal right when she walked through the doors into school, if the extra hard slamming of her scissor-adorned locker and stern expression were anything to go by. Even if they’d only technically been dating for a few weeks, Tori had lots of experience reading Jade’s attitude on a day to day, sometimes hour to hour, basis. (It was a necessary skill when trying to be Jade’s friend but also trying to avoid getting killed.) She’d greeted Jade that morning somewhat cautiously, receiving only an acknowledging grunt in return. The actress had maintained that sort of aloof, taciturn behavior all day, and now had yet to show up to lunch. Though she hadn’t completely ignored Tori (she’d sat next to her in their shared classes and stuck relatively by her side in the halls), her stony guise remained. In addition, she hadn’t talked at all, which was just as – if not more – concerning as when she was loudly storming through the school. 

In lieu of pushing Jade for answers, Tori had decided to quietly reassure her girlfriend in nonverbal, non confrontational ways. A hand touch here, an arm rub there, a small smile every now and then. As much as Tori would like to hug and kiss Jade until she felt better, she knew that specific way of comfort was probably not the best one to utilize in this situation. She should just let Jade figure it out on her own, for now. Not to mention that the most PDA they’d shown in these past few weeks was hand holding and the occasional quick cheek kiss, so Tori wasn’t sure how Jade would react to anything more than that. 

André’s waving hand snaps Tori out of her reverie. “Sorry, what?”

“You good, girl?” he asks, an amused smile playing at his lips.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Tori dismisses the question.

“Okay, well, I was wondering if you’d– Oh, there’s your girl, chica.”

Tori opens her mouth to reply with a very eloquent “Huh?”, but stops short as she feels a body slide in next to hers on the bench. The brunette turns her head to see Jade drop her bag to the ground and her lunch tray to the table.

“Hi,” Tori murmurs quietly, not quite into Jade’s ear, but close, as their friends converse around them. 

“Hey,” Jade mumbles back, making Tori smile because, really, that’s the most she’s said all day. And she doesn’t seem too annoyed or burdened yet, so that’s a plus.

Keeping with her earlier decision, Tori let’s Jade be and goes back to eating and occasionally chiming into her friend’s conversations. Or, well, she does until she feels Jade shuffle closer so that they’re pressed together ever so slightly. She flashes a smile at her, not sure what to do past just letting Jade rest against her side. Should she put an arm around her shoulder? Her waist? It’s kind of hard to concentrate when Jade’s arms are constantly brushing hers and her knees are knocking against her own. 

She puts her thoughts on hold as Jade sighs quietly, Tori looking at her with curious eyes. Jade nudges her arm slightly, and Tori’s eyebrows crease because Jade obviously wants her to get something, but, even though she’s trying, she just _isn’t_ right now.

“God, you’re slow.”

While Tori doesn’t exactly disagree in this particular moment, she doesn’t appreciate it being observed out loud.

Jade rolls her eyes and, seemingly deciding to take matters into her own hands, grabs Tori’s left arm to wrap it around herself, finally allowing her to lean fully into Tori.

“Oh,” Tori says softly, her cheeks warming rapidly. “Sorry.” She flashes a sheepish smile at Jade. In her defense, Jade had been the one to initiate any physical contact this obvious in the past few weeks. After all, most would assume Jade would usually be the one putting _her_ arm around _Tori_ , not the other way around.

“Yeah, whatever. Now you know,” Jade goes for a gruff tone, but Tori swears she picks up on some warmth behind it.

She squeezes Jade’s shoulder in response before moving closer and letting her arm drape across Jade’s shoulders more naturally. The singer continues to pick at her fries and laugh at the stories being exchanged across the table, trying not to show that she was one hundred percent internally freaking out. Because, like, _Jesus,_ Jade is all warm and pressed up against her, actually wanting _Tori,_ of all people, to lowkey cuddle her. At school. In front of everyone. Tori kind of loves the warm feeling it leaves in her chest.

After a few minutes of this, Tori notices Jade becoming less stiff and more relaxed. Deciding she can risk another attempt at obtaining information, she ducks her head to whisper into Jade’s ear. “You wanna tell me what’s up?”  
  
“...not really…,” Jade mumbles back, poking at her salad.

Tori studies Jade, considering pressing for answers for a brief second, before relenting. “Alright. I just want you to know you can talk to me, if you want or need to.” She pushes her tray of fries towards Jade as an offering. That salad, while probably way healthy, doesn’t look very appetizing to her.

Jade stays quiet for a moment, before nodding and reaching for a fry. “Ok.”  
  
“Because, y’know,” Tori grins mischievously with an idea to make Jade feel better. She begins quietly crooning a song from a childhood TV show into Jade’s ear. “If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile.”  
  
“Oh my god,” Jade dramatically facepalms as she recognizes the song.

“If you wanna fly, I will be your sky. Anything you need that's what I'll be,” Tori continues singing, grinning as she does.

“You’re such a dork, Vega,” Jade complains, even though Tori already knows she’s fighting a smile.

“You can come to me,” Tori emphasizes the last line of the chorus with a teasing poke to Jade’s thigh.

“Tori,” Jade groans, dragging out the second syllable. She finally lets out a laugh, turning her face to hide in the crook of Tori’s neck as Tori exaggeratedly bobs her head to each accent as she sings out the last “Yeah” of the song.

 _Jade really does look adorable when she laughs_ , Tori muses, grinning in accomplishment as she just takes in everything about Jade. Her radiant smile and crinkling eyes. The way the sun is shining off her black hair. The way she’s contentedly leaning into Tori. How _good_ it feels to have her this close, literally within arms length, laughing into her. Of course, Tori doesn’t voice any of this. Jade looks stunning doing just about anything, but being described as “adorable” probably _isn’t_ something Jade would want to hear, so she elects to keep her opinions to herself for the time being.

“What’re you looking at?” Jade quirks an angular eyebrow, still smiling.

“Just you,” Tori softly admits, the honest words slipping out before she can catch them. She curses herself for her lack of any type of filter whatsoever, momentarily hating her impulsive behavior.

But then Jade is quietly saying, “Oh,” and turning away to hide what Tori _absolutely_ knows must be a blush, so then she thinks that sometimes it’s good to have no control over your thoughts.

Before the singer girl can even consider what Jade’s reaction might be, or what repercussions her actions might have, she softly uses two fingers to guide Jade’s head back to her and she gently kisses Jade – because really, how could she _not,_ with Jade comfortable and pliant and _blushing,_ for Christ’s sake. So far, Tori’s barely ever seen Jade like this and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t enjoy it. Plus, Jade’s lips are soft against hers, a contradiction to her well known, harsh personality, and it's just as mind melting as the first kiss they shared.

Tori barely even gets to process what she’s just instinctually done before Rex’s intruding voice is pulling her attention away. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he snickers. “Cheekbones has managed to calm the cold hearted witch and make her laugh within 15 minutes!”

If a puppet could smirk, he’d definitely be smirking right now.

“Dare I say that Jade is…,” he pauses (completely unnecessarily, in Tori’s opinion). “Pussy whipped?”

“Oh my god,” Tori mutters, rolling her eyes. “I’m just about done with this puppet, Robbie.” She glances at Jade to ensure that: a.) Jade isn’t about to do any irreparable damage to the damn thing, and b.) Jade isn’t mad at her for actually taking the lead for once. Judging by the only slightly withering look she shoots at Rex, which morphs into a fond gaze when she refocuses her eyes on Tori, she thinks she’s fine. 

The half latina pleads with the girl next to her. “Not that I’m trying to tell you what to do or anything, but please maybe don’t, like, cut Rex beyond repair?” Gone was the ballsy Tori who had just kissed Jade in front of their friends, replaced by an unsure one because, yeah, Jade liked her, but Tori was _not_ risking any more of her chances. 

“Says the girl who threw him into the whirling blades of a mega fan,” Jade smirked at her. Ah, there was the Jade West Tori knew, smirk and all.

“That was an accident! And I didn’t _throw_ him!” Tori protests. She had felt really bad about that when it’d happened. “Plus, he’s fine now.”

Jade hums thoughtfully, before abruptly reaching diagonally across the table. Tori has just enough time to think _oh no_ , before Jade is ripping out Rex’s arm and chucking it into the parking lot. “Well, he _was_ fine about two seconds ago.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Tori can’t really find it in herself to feel bad for Rex or Robbie. Jade’s completely smug expression takes up too much of her attention for her to really consider anything else. And Jade technically didn’t do anything to Rex that can’t be fixed. In fact, Rex has unfortunately – or very fortunately, depending on how you look at it – has had most of his limbs ripped out and then sewn back on more than once.

Robbie springs up to retrieve Rex’s arm before it gets run over as the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. Jade grabs her wrist, lets her hand slip down to grasp Tori’s, and starts tugging her girlfriend in an entirely different direction than the one they should be heading in. Before long, Tori realizes that Jade is dragging her towards the janitor’s closet. Why would they be heading there? Maybe to talk about what happened at lunch that afternoon? Tori doesn’t know.

Tori’s still trying to figure out why when, all of a sudden, Jade is pressing her up against the door before it’s even really closed, and– _Oh, hell yes._

And if she and Jade are both late to their next class...well, they are going to leave the reason why undisclosed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i probably could've chosen a better song for a nickelodeon show-based fanfic than a disney channel song, but it was the first one that came to mind, and most straight forward one i thought of. that being said, the song was "You Can Come to Me" from the Disney Channel show Austin & Ally, sung by Ross Lynch and Laura Marano.


	4. Evening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade enjoys relaxing with her friends at the end of the day.

Jade isn’t really paying attention to the conversations happening around her, if she’s being honest. To be fair, she doesn’t really have to. It’s been a tiring, but satisfying day and she and her friends are all winding down. The voices around her are unrushed, low tones that glide across the small circle they’ve formed on the grass of an overlook, one that gives them a beautiful view of Los Angeles. André is playing music at a quiet volume through his bluetooth speaker, a genre that Jade can’t name but can appreciate given that it matches the peaceful atmosphere of the evening.

Jade shifts her eyes from the not–quite bird’s eye view to her friends relaxing on the ground. She lets her gaze trail idly around the vaguely shaped circle, landing on one person before moving to the next. Cat is almost directly across from her, softly giggling at something Robbie said. Well, that’s what Jade assumes, anyway. She smiles a little, fondly looking at her best friend lean against the curly haired boy. Cat’s been through a lot, she deserves that happiness. 

To the right of them (to the left of Jade) is Beck, discussing something with André, who is to Jade’s right. She doesn’t mind them talking across her, partly because she knows it most likely isn’t something she would be interested in, partly because she’s too relaxed to care.

And of course, there’s Tori. Jade can’t actually see Tori from her position. Well, not her face, anyway. But she can see the singer’s long, jean short-clad legs bent on either side of her own. She feels the warmth of Tori behind her, and Jade’s pretty sure that the two of those things combined more than makes up for it. 

She lets her eyes slide closed, momentarily giving in to the tiredness she can feel creeping into her bones. She scoots down a little and shifts her weight to rest back against Tori’s front, sighing contentedly when she finds a comfortable position with her head tilted back to lay on Tori’s shoulder.

Jade feels more than hears Tori murmur something, probably contributing to André and Beck’s conversation. She focuses in on the way she can feel the vibrations low in Tori’s chest, not paying much attention to the actual words being said, and revels in the low, smooth, warm timbre of Tori's voice. It's one she doesn't often hear when they're in the presence of other people, since Tori’s common-used speaking voice is higher and more energized, especially when she needs to talk louder than this at school or when she’s addressing a crowd.

Jade hums in approval when Tori shifts her arms to wrap around Jade from where they were previously resting on the knees of her bent legs, which have now straightened to rest on the ground. The writer reaches across her own chest to trail her fingers down one of Tori’s arms, following the warm, tan skin to where the arms connect, wrapped around her waist. She intertwines their fingers together, Tori turning her head to press a lingering kiss to Jade’s temple in response. The writer allows herself to smile at the action, enjoying the casual intimacy. 

She gradually slips into the in-between of awake and asleep, floating there as the comforting noises of her friends and nature wash over her. For once, the buzz of LA’s hustle and bustle is distant noise, only the occasional car horn making it’s way up to where the group is perched. There’s less light pollution up here, no brightly lit billboards or neon signs to blind her, and the air seems cleaner, away from all the cars and buildings. She’s thankful for Tori’s naturally warm body temperature at the moment, the evening air cooling as the Sun lowers in the sky. She turns her head a little more into the crook of Tori’s neck, not thinking about anything in particular, just savoring the moment. 

Jade makes a quiet whine of displeasure when her focus is forcefully brought back to the real world, caused by Tori shifting behind her.

“Sorry, baby,” Jade can hear the amusement mixed with fondness as Tori mumbles in her ear. “Tired?”

“Mhm,” Jade doesn’t bother opening her eyes or moving. She’s comfortable here, lying against her California-tanned beauty. Too comfortable to care whether or not her friends are seeing her right now, walls down and drowsy, with no frown on her lips or snide comment on the tip of her tongue.

She feels Tori’s hand, the one not holding her own, reach for her leg where her phone is resting, probably to check the time.

“It isn’t _too_ late, yet. Not for summer, anyway,” Tori raises her voice just a bit, confirming Jade’s assumption as she addresses the group as a whole. “But I know we’re all kinda tired and probably in need of a shower.”

“Maybe you guys do. I don’t,” Jade says reflexively, reminding everyone that – even after walking around Santa Monica Pier and the beach in the hot summer sun all day – she doesn’t sweat.

“Even if you don’t sweat, wouldn’t a shower feel nice and refreshing?” Cat wonders aloud. Jade doesn’t let her know that, yes, it would. Even without the sweat, she can feel the dirt and grime from a day out sticking to her skin.

“Yeah, Jade,” Tori is _definitely_ smirking right now. “Nice and _refreshing_?” Her voice carries a teasing lilt to it, an underlying tone that Jade’s pretty sure only she is picking up on. 

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” she rubs at her eyes a little, though it doesn't do much in making her feel more awake. “And of course I’m going to shower anyway. I’m not an _animal_.”

“I could go for a shower and some sleep,” André speaks up, addressing Tori’s previous statement about sleeping and bathing. Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the group, farewells and promises to text tomorrow following after.

Jade makes another noise of discontent when she’s forced to hold herself up on her own, Tori moving to stand up behind her.

Tori chuckles at her, extending a hand. “C’mon, you sleepy child. Let’s get to the car. Then, you can sleep all you want.”

Jade sighs, but takes Tori’s hand, pulls herself up, and throws an arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders, effectively making it so she doesn’t have to carry her weight alone. To her credit, Tori doesn’t complain. Instead, she slips an arm around Jade’s waist and guides them both back to Jade’s car, making sure Jade doesn’t fall over in her lethargic state.

Jade collapses into the passenger seat, glad Tori had finally gotten her driving license. They both knew that, under California law, Tori _technically_ wasn’t supposed to be driving other people (who were under 20) around, considering it hadn’t been a full year since Tori earned her license and they didn’t have an adult with them. But as long as they weren’t stupid, it was unlikely that they’d come face to face with one of Officer Vega’s coworkers. Plus, most would probably assume Tori had gotten her license the year before – “Like a normal teenage girl,” so many people had said to Tori – and wouldn’t suspect a thing.

“So,” Tori turns to Jade as she buckles her belt. “Are you planning on taking that shower alone?”

Jade let out an honest laugh, caught slightly off guard. Hm, maybe she isn't so tired after all.


	5. Dusk;Sunset;Sundown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori makes Jade feel a lot of emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is unrelated to this fic, but "Consider Me" by Allen Stone is a good, happy af love song and i feel like it's very jori applicable, especially the lyric "If you're looking for somebody who will put up with your shit, can fight fire with fire without burning you a bit".

She makes me feel so many damn emotions. Right from the start, she’d drawn out a side of me no one previously had, or ever could. She’d shattered my mask of indifference, awakening a fire inside me I had wrongly labeled as rage and hatred.

She made me feel so out of control, something so rare for me. I had control over every aspect of my life that I could, every move was calculated and performed with utmost precisity. And yet, she could infuriate me so easily. Cause me to lose my cool in the blink of an eye. 

Then, she, somehow, broke through my walls. Maybe _broke_ isn’t the right word, because it’s not like she violently forced or pushed to get her way with me. More like she stayed, let me set the pace, showed me time and time again that she was someone I could trust. She didn’t get mad when her efforts were met with a push back. She knew how to give me space and back off, yet also knew how and when to push me, challenge me.

And the way she made me feel out of control changed. Instead of causing me to lash out uncontrollably, she makes my heart melt unprompted, something I do _not_ remember consenting to, but I can’t find it in me to care. She makes me want to run my fingers through her hair, tempts me to want to stay by her side all day and night long, convinces me to _trust_ her with my mind, body, and heart.

That used to scare the shit out of me. To have someone know me that well, someone who could use all that knowledge to manipulate me so _effortlessly_ , someone who could break me without even _trying_.

But she never does. She cares about me and doesn’t use her expertise to twist me, change me, or take advantage. Instead, she uses it to calm my fears (believe it or not, I get scared. Just not of things like the dark or spiders), reassure me so my insecurities don’t get the best of me, push me to better myself and always improve, make me want to do my best with whatever project I’m working on.

So, sitting here, on the roof of her house, with her, I’m not scared anymore. Her tan skin is glowing warmly from the sunset, her hair soft hair is falling in waves down her back, and she looks so fucking beautiful. She’s just so _Tori_ , idiotic and nerdy and impulsive and amazing and caring and positive and _I don’t deserve her_.

Except she always says I do, and I keep finding it harder and harder to bring myself to refute her, because she keeps boosting my confidence and assuring me that I deserve to be happy.

I just have all these emotions for her swimming around in my head and my chest and I just, fuck, I–

“I love you.”

I don’t try to backtrack. I don’t regret the words that – for once – spilled out with no control, with no previous planning or preparation, because, damnit, it’s true. I love Tori Vega.

And now she’s smiling that smile even brighter, eyes shining like she can’t believe I love her, like it wasn’t inevitable, like it wasn’t going to happen from the start.

“I love you, too.”

Really, _that_ should be the hard part to believe. Not that I love Tori – as if everyone else doesn’t love her anyway – but that _she_ loves _me_. She could have anyone she wanted with a smile and a bat of her eyes, easily. Yet she stayed with me, fought for me, made her way into the inside of my fortress. That is the real mystery.

For whatever reason, it doesn’t take much for me to believe it. Not when she’s still grinning like a damn idiot and looking at me like I’m her whole damn world. I don’t even feel the slightest bit inclined to tease her for it because I know my expression is the exact same.

She makes me feel so many damn emotions. Turns out love is one of them.


	6. Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori's dog escapes into the neighbor's yard again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> both of them are kinda OOC, i think. also this is an AU.

_Goddamnit_ , I think as I call out for Ben, receiving no response from anywhere in the house. It's close to midnight and I can't find my dog anywhere. I really hope Trina didn't leave the damn backdoor open, I _told_ her to lock it when she left.

Speaking of Trina, she's lucky I never tell our parents that she sneaks out to see that boyfriend of hers every time they aren't home. Which is quite often, considering my mom’s business trips, my dad’s night shifts, and their occasional vacations. She’s also lucky I don’t beat her ass for always leaving the backdoor open or unlocked, because Ben is unusually stealthy and smart for a dog, and he always manages to sneak out at the most inopportune times.

“Ben!” I call again, hoping to hear his collar jingle or his nails against the floor. Of course, nothing. “Oh my god,” I groan, glaring at the open backdoor as if it would somehow bring my dog back from wherever he escaped to. This is the third time this month! Though, one of those times Ben had actually decided to stay and roam around the yard, for once, instead of going to explore outside our property, so I guess this is technically the second time.

I sigh, walking over to the door and into the backyard, hoping he's just in the yard. Based on most past experiences, I'm not too optimistic. 

“ _Ben!_ ” I yell with more force, cringing after realizing that I could be annoying the neighbors with my volume. I definitely don’t want Mr. Busey or Mr. Drysdale to leave an angry phone call for my parents. Maybe I can blame it on Trina if they do, though.

I work my jaw side to side, annoyed that Ben doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the backyard. Or the front yard, for that matter. It’s not like he ever actually runs away, we either find him fairly quickly or he turns up back at the house later on, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying. I mean, what if he gets run over? Or kidnapped? Or is it dognapped, since he’s a dog? 

Whatever, the correct vocabulary isn’t that important right now. Seriously, why doesn’t Trina ever close the door? Or perhaps I should be asking _myself_ why I never check to see if it’s closed, instead. Whatever, it’s not like Ben could’ve gotten very far...I think. Who knows when he left, considering Trina left about 3 hours ago and the door has presumably been open that whole time. I really hope he didn’t get into Mr. Busey’s yard, the man was creepy. Maybe he– _wait_. 

I thought springs into my head: When we first adopted Ben, he had a habit of escaping into Ms. West’s backyard, mostly because her house has a pool. It's been a while since he's done that, I assumed he was now too big to fit through the whole in the fence (or he just gave up on trying to dig under it since we kept patching the hole), but it's a possibility.

I pause, trying to decide if it's worth it to climb over the fence to check. I mean, it's technically trespassing, and my dad is a _cop_ , but Ms. West is gone on a work trip (according to my mom), and that means her son is at his dad’s house, so I should be good. (Speaking of Ms. West, I know that she's divorced – this knowledge is also courtesy of my mom – so, like, is West her maiden name? Did she keep her ex husband's last name? Who knew.) Yeah. I mean, who’s going to catch me, anyway? Even if she is home, Ms. West is nice to me and would understand, considering she's friends with my Mom and knows how many times this has happened in the past.

Well, technically, all of the previous times, me or Trina had just gone up to her front door and knocked. I can’t exactly do that in the middle of the night when no one is home, now can I?

I go over to the corner of the fence bordering between the West and Vega properties after slipping on some flip flops, debating if the fence was sturdy enough to hold my weight. I used to climb and sit on top of this fence all the time when I was younger. Hopefully I didn’t weigh too much more than I used to. Deciding just to go for it, I run towards the wall, placing my foot on the wood and using it to push me up so I have enough momentum to swing the rest of my body on to the top using my hands and arms. 

_Huh, that went better than expected_ , I think as I hop down into Ms. West’s yard. Muscle memory is really neat, sometimes.

“ _Ben_.” It comes out as a whisper yell, despite the fact that I don't really mean for it to. Better safe than sorry, though, right?

Oh, who am I kidding, I’m literally trespassing on private property. I’m past my usual ‘safe’ by now.

As expected, Ben is swimming and splashing around in the pool. “Come here, boy,” I try to coax him, kneeling down near the water.

I internally cheer when he starts making his way towards me, expecting him to climb out of the pool so we can go back over the fence and into our own house.

“Wait, no, come back.” My internal cheers subside as he turns around and starts swimming in the other direction. I blow air through my lips, standing and walking over to the other side of the pool, my back now facing the house. “Come on, we’re not supposed to be here.”

Ben does not seem to care. Every time I get close, he turns the other way and starts toward a new side of the pool. I purse my lips. He’s been keeping this up for what's probably been a full ten minutes by now, and there’s no doubt he could go on for longer.

Finally, he comes close enough for me to almost touch him. I try to reach for his back or for his collar, but he’s still a little too far. I swear, if dogs could smirk, he’d definitely be smirking right now. He’s probably amused by my struggles.

I curse myself for not thinking to bring any dog treats with me as I strain to reach for him again, trying to balance my weight so that I don’t fall into the pool. I’m _almost_ there, he’s _almost_ close enough, but then he’s speeding away and I’m reacting by reflex, impulsively trying to make a grab for him and I just have enough time to think, _Oh shit_ , before I’m unexpectedly diving into the water. 

“Fuck,” I state through my coughs as I quickly stand, torso out of the water, grateful that I didn’t hit my head on the bottom of the shallow end. “Damn it, Ben. You’re a real handful, you know that?”

He swims his way over to the pool stairs, sitting on the top step, looking at me and innocently cocking his head.

“Oh, shut up.” I grab the bottom of my t-shirt and pull it over my head, wringing it out, placing it beside the pool, and thanking whatever god that I still had a bra on. I'm also unexpectedly thankful that I had been stupid enough to not bring my phone over here with me. “Oh no you don’t,” I scold as I pull him into my arms when he tries to swim away again.

“What the fuck?”

I whip around, dog in arms, as I hear a voice behind me, the lights on the back of the West porch turning on.

Too shocked and embarrassed to really compute anything, I start spilling out an automatic apology immediately. “I’m really sorry, Ms. West. It’s just, Ben got over here again, you know how he is, and I didn’t want to wake anybody up, so–”

“Ms. West is my _mom_ ,” the voice cuts off my rambling. "I don't like being called that."

I squint, partially because my eyes are adjusting to the new light, partially because my stupidity had extended past not bringing my phone; I hadn’t brought my glasses, either. The figure looks femenine, but the voice is deeper and gruffer than Ms. West’s.

“Oh, um,” I stutter as I lift Ben up (he's kind of heavy with the water clinging to his fur, even if he's a relatively medium-smallish dog) and place him down near my shirt. On the topic of my shirt, _I’m not fucking wearing it_. God, I want to die. What the fuck is _wrong_ with me. “Right. Well, um, you see–”

“Who the hell are you?” the girl demands, walking a little closer with what looks like a pair of scissors in her hands. “Why are you in my pool?”  
  
“Okay, so about that, I– goddamnit, Ben, _NO!_ ” I leap toward him as he jumps into the water again, luckily catching him before he can swim away.

"Wow," the girl states. I'm not sure if she's being serious or not."That's quite a dog."

“You have no idea," I mutter before continuing. "I’m Tori Vega. I live next door, and my dog here–” I raise him slightly for emphasis “–got into your yard and into your pool. It used to happen a lot when he was–” I freeze, my brain finally catching up to me. Of course, _now_ is the time I remember what my mom had mentioned the day before. “You’re Ms. West’s daughter. Jack’s sister.”  
  
“Uh, yeah,” she deadpans, like it’s obvious.

“Okay,” I say, trying not to freak out. Of course _now_ is the time that Ms. West’s daughter is visiting. Of fucking course. “This looks bad, I know.”

“Oh really, why would you think that?” Sarcasm drips from her voice.

Well, I deserve that. “So, uh, yeah. I’m Tori Vega. I live there.” I place Ben down again, keeping a hand on his collar this time, and point to the left toward our house. “I swear I’m not some creep or something. Ben got in through a hole in the fence. He used to do it all the time, but this is the first time in a while. And, ya know, he likes the pool.”  
  
“So you just decided to jump in with him?” Ms. West’s daughter – I think her name is Jane or something – sounds incredulous.

“It was an accident,” I sigh, looking forlornly at Ben. “Look, I can show you the hole in the fence if you don’t believe me.” I’m already pushing myself out of the pool, walking towards the broken piece of wood and dug up dirt before pausing, uncomfortably standing there for a moment. I’m literally standing on someone else’s property _topless_ with a girl that, now that I can see her a little better, looks unfairly beautiful in just her pajamas. I run a hand through my wet hair subconsciously even though I know it’s past saving.

Jane, or whoever, fills in the silence. “What, you don’t regularly go swimming in other peoples pools?” 

I blush, looking down at my shirt on the ground, then back up at her to see her teasingly smirk at me, her eyes assessing my half undressed state. “Um, nope. This is a one time occurrence.” I awkwardly spread my arms and grin before stiffly walking toward her, stooping down to pick up my shirt, quickly slipping it on.

“Wow, just my luck,” she quips, but her and Ben follow me as I make my way toward the back corner of the fence. 

“There’s the broken board, and I guess he dug out the dirt to make enough room for him to fit.”

“Huh.” She turns her gaze from the fence to me, then down to Ben.

“You can even ask your mom, if you want. She knows me.” I try to convince her, only realizing how that could end badly for me _after_ I say it. “Actually, maybe don’t ask your mom.”

She raises an eyebrow, fixing me with a look.

“I just, it’ll be weird because I’ll have to explain and your mom would definitely tell my mom. My family would literally never let me live this down.” I plead, clasping my hands together and making eye contact to prove my sincerity. Wow, her eyes are a really pretty shade of blue. 

She sighs heavily. “Okay.”  
  
“Wait, really?”  
  
She eyes me again. “Don’t make me regret this.”  
  
“I won’t, I swear. Thank you,” I reach out to grab her hand in gratitude, but stop halfway because I’m pretty sure that’s kind of weird.

“How did you end up in my pool, anyway?”

“Well...” I tap the side of my leg, gesturing for Ben to follow as we walk back back toward her porch. “I figured Ben might be over here, so I climbed over the fence.”  
  
“You couldn’t have just rang the doorbell like a normal person?” The words are harsh, but I see a smile on her face so I assume she’s just amused.

“Well, to be fair, I thought that no one was in the house. And it's, like, midnight. That would be weird.”  
  
“And trespassing on someone's private property _isn't_ weird?” She sits down in one of the chairs, gesturing for me to do the same. “That’s illegal, you know.”

“Oh, trust me, I know,” I say, reaching down to scratch Ben behind his ears.

“Oh, really?”

“Well,” I look down, fiddling with Ben’s collar. “My dad is, like, a cop, so….”

She lets out a surprised laugh, and it sounds surprisingly nice to my ears. “And you still did it?”  
  
“I had a momentary lapse in judgment induced by extreme anxiety?” I offer up as a joke, shrugging. Somewhere in the back of my mind I register that I probably shouldn't feel this much at ease with a practical stranger, especially after trespassing into their yard. “Ms. West is usually nice to me. She’d probably understand considering this used to happen a lot.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “You said your name was Tori, right? And that’s Ben?”  
  
“Yep,” I pat Ben’s side before drawing my hand back into my lap. “If you know mine _and_ my dog’s names, it’s only fair I know yours.”

“You already know my mom and brother’s name, though,” she points out. “But it’s Jade. Jade _West_ , of course.”

Well, I was close. Jane, Jade, they’re similar. “Ok, cool.” I look up and smile sheepishly at her. “Sorry for swimming in your pool with my dog...and kind of flashing you.”  
  
She scoffs, rolling her eyes. “I’d hardly call that a flashing. You still had your bra on. And shorts”

“Still, you probably weren’t expecting to see that.” 

“Well, no,” she says before muttering. “Can’t say I minded, though.”

I look up at the last sentence, quirking an eyebrow and suppressing a smile. “Oh, really? I guess I’ll keep that in mind.”  
  
She turns her head away, but I can still see the blush on her pale skin, even in the dim lighting.  
  
“I suppose I wasn’t supposed to hear that last part, was I?” I let a grin take over my face as I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and gazing at her over the small table in between us. I mean it when I say she’s beautiful. The colored streaks in her hair – the majority of the hair is a light brownish – really bring out her eyes which seem more green than blue now. The loose, soft-looking pajama pants and matching shirt she’s wearing do nothing besides make her look adorable. Well, they also make me want to do...things, with the way the shirt is hanging off one of her shoulders.

“No, you weren’t,” she says, turning her head towards me, her sudden confidence catching me off guard. “But I guess I don’t mind that, either.” I sit up straighter as she stands and saunters over to me which allows her to put her hands on my legs and lean over so that our faces are level, a few inches between us.

“I wonder why,” I grin cheekily at her, resting my hands on her own.

“You should wipe that stupid grin off your face, Vega,” she murmurs into my ear, lips ghosting along my jaw before she’s pulling away. “I have towels, if you want.”

I blink, trying to keep up with the quick change of pace. “I think we’re fine. Perks of living next door, I guess.” I stand, laughing at seeing Jade awkwardly stand as Ben sniffs her. “C’mere, boy. No more antagonizing our friend Jade.”

“Friend, huh?”  
  
“Yeah, friend.” I smile slyly. “For now.”

“Okay then.” She looks happy with my statement. “I assume you don’t want to climb back over the fence?”  
  
“Yeah, no. If we could go out your side gate, that’d be great.”  
  
“Not through the front door?”  
  
“I don’t wanna drip water all over your house.”

“That wouldn’t happen if you _took the towels_.”

“I am _trying_ not to be a _bother_.” I playfully push her shoulder, trying not to blush as my hand makes contact with her warm skin.

“You were literally just in my pool,” she says, lightly pushing me back in retaliation. "In your _bra_."

“All the more reason for me to try to not be more of a bother!” I exclaim, ignoring the bra statement. “Plus, I don’t think I can get Ben to dry off right now.”

“Fine.” She rolls her eyes but walks Ben and I through the side gate and back to our house. “See you later, Tori Vega.” She trails a hand down my arm. “And you, too, Ben.”  
  
“Yeah, see you later, Jade.” I smile, half jokingly blowing her a kiss as she walks away.

I grin in accomplishment when she laughs and pretends to catch it, lingering for a moment before walking up the path to my house.

Damnit, I didn’t have my keys. I guess it’s a good thing Trina left the backdoor unlocked, after all.


End file.
